FOR DRUG TREATMENT TO WORK, ADDICT MUST BE TRULY READY

I got down on my knees and said, `God, please help me. Give me a piece of
your heart. . . . ' Two days after, I went in to [rob] a rest home and the
cops were waiting for me when I got out.Stormie TisdaleRecovering heroin
addict Timing is everything when it comes to quitting drugs. For some
users, it doesn't matter how many nights they spend in jail or how many
treatment programs they've gone through.

They won't quit until they're ready. Stormie Tisdale, a heroin addict since
she was 20, has tried a couple of times to get off heroin.

The 28-year-old says her latest attempt at Odyssey House is promising.

She believes she has gone nearly a half-year sober because she wanted to
and because she had some help. ``I got down on my knees and said, `God,
please help me. Give me a piece of your heart. . . . ' Two days after, I
went in to [rob] a rest home and the cops were waiting for me when I got
out.'' She believes if the police hadn't busted her, she'd be another dead
heroin junkie. After a 4-month stint in jail for robbery and forgery, she
checked herself into Odyssey House.

There are 13 drug treatment programs in Salt Lake County. Two, Project
Reality and Odyssey House, specialize in treating heroin addicts.

The treatments range from medication to intensive counseling. Project
Reality is located in Salt Lake City. Its telephone number is 364-8080. The
number for Odyssey House, also in Salt Lake City, is 322-1001. Project
Reality is one of the few programs offering methadone as part of its
treatment. Using the drug is typically a last resort. ``It's a heavy-duty
step,'' says Joel Millard, Project Reality's executive director. ``It's not
the last. I suppose prison's the last one.'' Methadone is like a nicotine
patch.

The synthetic opiate allows heroin users to get off heroin and put their
life back together without the nasty withdrawals. Withdrawals seem
horrendous and insurmountable because heroin use decreases the amount of
the pain-reducing endorphins in the body. Millard also likens methadone to
insulin shots given to a diabetic because, like insulin, the synthetic
narcotic is used to stabilize the body chemistry. The drug replaces the
function of the endorphins with the hope that the user can eventually stop
using methadone and allow the endorphin system to kick in again.

The director of Odyssey House says he uses a holistic approach to
treatment, one that deals with the drug user's living skills, psychological
problems and values.

``It's easy to go back [to using heroin] because heroin is a great
escape,'' says Glen Lambert, executive director of Odyssey House. ``If you
don't have the coping skills, you're going to go back. Life is hard.''
Heroin addicts typically use to cover up physical or psychological pain.
They have higher rates of mental illness, depression and abuse than the
general population, Lambert says. Odyssey House helps drug users confront
their past and learn how to deal with their problems constructively.
Tisdale says she used heroin to cover up the pain of a bad family life. She
says she was sexually abused and saw a family member commit murder. ``I
stuffed all that stuff.

I couldn't relate to other people.

I didn't want to. I thought that's the way life really was.'' Counselors
also help addicts learn to live responsibly and safely.

They offer vocational training and schooling because most addicts committed
crime to get their fix.

``If you take every social problem, such as homelessness, poverty, violent
crime . . . they all have a high correlation with heroin,'' Lambert says.
Kelli Heaps, a 22-year-old addict also living at Odyssey, says her
full-time job was to get heroin.

She pawned her mother's wedding ring and stole anything she could to trade
for drugs or money to buy drugs. ``Everyone I've ever met went to stealing
. . . and trading [for drugs]. You'll go to any lengths.'' Getting addicts'
health back on track is also part of the program.

Since many drug users take drugs intravenously, they are at risk for
diseases like AIDS or hepatitis B and C. The lesser-known health problems
include severe acne and constipation.

Drug treatment is tough.

Tisdale says she's uncomfortable 99 percent of the time because she is
constantly confronting her problems.

But she says getting over her addiction is a lot more rewarding.

``I'm not going to lie to you, this is the hardest thing I've ever done in
my life,'' she says, noting that prison would probably be easier. ``[But]
it's made up in my mind. There ain't nothing that's going to make me use.''

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski